What happens if Liz Truss resigns today?
Prime Minister Liz Truss has had the worst start to her premiership than any other PM. And the last 48 hours in Westminster have been chaos.
There are rumours that the Liz Truss era is fast approaching its end, and many are plotting to oust her from No 10.
She has only been in the job since September 5.
In that time, the Queen died, Liz Truss crashed the economy, her mini-budget has been ripped up and replaced with policies that she campaigned against during the leadership race, she fired her chancellor and replaced him with a Rishi Sunak supporter, her home secretary resigned and offered up a scathing letter and there were reports of bullying from her cabinet at last night’s Commons vote.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was fired after the mini-budget spooked the financial markets. Many argue that Truss should have gone with him as it was her financial vision as his.
READ – PM in crisis: Suella Braverman quits and voting chaos
How does a Tory leadership election work?
According to the 1922 Committee, an incumbent Tory PM cannot face a confidence vote within their first year on the job. But there is speculation that this rule could be changed.
After that 12-month period, to trigger a contest vote, 15 per cent of Tory MPs would have to submit letters of no confidence to 1922 Committee chair, Sir Graham Brady. If at least 50 per cent of MPs then vote no-confidence in their leader, a leadership election begins.
Tory MPs who want to be in the race for the top job will then seek nominations from their colleagues. There will be a series of ballots which will see all the candidates whittled down to just two. The rank and file of the Conservative party will then choose the winner.
Boris Johnson won the general election in 2019 and although he was ousted and replaced with Truss there is no requirement for the Conservative party to call a general election.
Some MPs are understood to want to avoid putting the vote back to the ordinary members of the party. The Telegraph says some MPs want the parliamentary party to choose Truss’s successor, though others warn that this would require a complicated rule change.
This aligns with newspaper reports that say the Tories want to put Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt in office on a “golden ticket” type deal.
READ – Can Liz Truss save her job?
What happens if Liz Truss resigns today?
If Liz Truss resigns as Conservative leader and Prime Minister today, a leadership contest would begin.
Those wanting to get into No 10 would begin trying to get support for their campaign.
However, it is possible that the Tory parliamentary party could rally around a single candidate for the leadership. This would perhaps be seen as a better option as it will avoid time-wasting.
If Truss does not resign and attempts to cling on to power against the will of MPs and peers, the 1922 Committee could and would likely change the rules to allow an early challenge to her (changing the 12-month rule). This would likely see her removal from both leadership of the party and as prime minister.
Can we have a general election?
Labour and Liberal Democrats are amongst those calling for an early general election. But the government is not legally obliged to hold another general election before January 2025 – surely to the delight of Conservatives as the latest opinion polls suggest the Tories would lose most of their seats.
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Cliff Notes – PS5 State of Play showcase due next week as fans hope for Naughty Dog update
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Upcoming Showcase: Sony is rumoured to host a State of Play showcase next week, potentially coinciding with the Tokyo Game Show, amid anticipation for new game announcements.
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Wolverine Game Update: Insomniac’s Wolverine game, which has been largely absent since its 2021 reveal, may feature in the showcase, with reports suggesting it remains on track for a 2026 release.
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Naughty Dog’s New IP: Updates on Naughty Dog’s upcoming title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, are expected, as the studio prepares for marketing efforts following its announcement at The Game Awards last year.
PS5 State of Play showcase due next week as fans hope for Naughty Dog update
May we finally get to see something of Wolverine that wasn’t stolen and leaked online? (Sony/YouTube)The next PlayStation showcase may be airing alongside the Tokyo Game Show, if the rumours from a reliable source are accurate.
Now that the big Nintendo Direct of the month is out of the way, eyes are on Sony for its next State of Play showcase, since it typically airs one in September as well.
There was one at the beginning of the month, but that only focused on 007 First Light. Plus, there has been reliable chatter that Sony is planning another showcase before the end of September.
Recently, reliable insider NatetheHate chimed in to corroborate the showcase’s existence and while he couldn’t share an exact date, he does believe it’ll happen next week.
Over on X, people naturally asked if he knows which games will make an appearance. If he does know, he’s so far keeping quiet, but he did agree with one comment that he’d love to see a remaster of inFamous or Gravity Rush during the showcase.
That said, there are a few games that feel like safe predictions. Perhaps the big one is Insomniac’s Wolverine game. It’s been MIA ever since its 2021 reveal, although it seems the 2023 cyberhack incident affected its progress.
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However, a recent report alleged that the game is still on track for its previously leaked 2026 launch window. If that’s the case, it’d make sense for Sony to drum up hype a year in advance. Wolverine’s reappearance would certainly be a win, after so many complaints about the PlayStation 5’s lack of killer exclusives.
Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is also due an update, following its announcement at The Game Awards last year.
A job listing from last month suggested the studio is preparing to start marketing the game, which hopefully means a new trailer will come sooner rather than later.
In a recent Variety interview, director Neil Druckmann – who has stepped back from The Last Of Us TV show to focus more on Intergalactic – refrained from saying too much about the game, but stated: ‘I can tell you we’re in the thick of it. We’re making it, we’re playing it. We’re firing on all cylinders.’
He has described it as ‘the most expansive game we’ve ever made, maybe the most expensive,’ but ‘announcing a game like this, especially when it’s new IP, especially when it’s coming out of Naughty Dog, you’ve got to coordinate with marketing, with PR, with a bunch of people.’
Basically, he can’t say anything without running it past Sony first, but maybe it’s because he knows a more in-depth trailer is on the horizon. Either at the rumoured showcase or The Game Awards 2025.
At the very least, with Sony’s next big exclusive, Ghost Of Yōtei, launching on October 2, the company does need to start generating excitement for whatever comes next.
That could be Saros, the Returnal successor announced earlier this year and the only PlayStation exclusive scheduled for 2026. Considering Returnal is widely considered the console’s best exclusive – certainly by us – it be good to get at least some details on what exactly it is.
It’s also worth noting that Tokyo Game Show is scheduled to run next week, from September 25 to September 28. So, if the rumour’s accurate, the State of Play would either air right before the show starts or as it’s happening.
Maybe Sony will use this is as a joint opportunity to focus on Japanese developed games from either itself or its partners, like the Marvel Tōkon fighting game from Arc System Works.
A quick look at some fan reactions on Reddit suggests most people are expecting a Wolverine trailer, though there’s some hope for something God Of War related, like the rumoured 2D spin-off.
Others are suggesting one of three long awaited Square Enix announcements: the long rumoured Final Fantasy 9 remake, Kingdom Hearts 4, and/or the third game in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy.
Square Enix has used PlayStation showcases for big announcements before and while the first one hasn’t been formally confirmed, Square Enix’s Tetsuya Nomura recently said the other two were making ‘great progress’, which has fans hopeful that an update on either project is on its way.
However, all three projects seem too big for Square Enix not to announce on its own terms. We think they’re more likely to be shown during Tokyo Game Show itself and even then, it’d probably only be one of them rather than all three.
Kingdom Hearts 4 has been MIA almost as long as Wolverine has (Square Enix)Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.
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